


Veritaserum

by NosferatuNightingale



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Love Confessions, Post-Book 2: The Wicked King, all you need is communication and poison apparently, this has been done before i'm sure but don't @ me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 07:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21352399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NosferatuNightingale/pseuds/NosferatuNightingale
Summary: Cardan gets a confession out of Jude.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar, Taryn Duarte/Locke
Comments: 5
Kudos: 169





	Veritaserum

I shut my eyes in self-directed ire and humiliation, ignoring the pain blasting my knees from being shoved violently down onto the stone floor underfoot. Months of careful planning, of scheming and conniving have come down to this moment and ruined in an instant. A careless mistake was going to cost me my revenge, and more than that, likely my life. 

I glance over at the faerie court who have ceased their reveling to partake in what is no doubt the to be the greatest entertainment of this decade: the speculation of their once-seneschal, come to disgrace, kneeling bound, my hair a mess and clothes practically in shreds and stained with muck and blood. There was a ball taking place before this moment and the Folk were magnificent even more than usual, even the servants were donned in new crisp uniforms. Many of the court were in their normal and almost comical states of undress, some covered only in crude body paint that any other day I would find myself balking at. 

I couldn’t be more different, as if I needed a visual reminder of that fact.

I scan the crowd and spot the pale reflective face of my twin, Taryn watching me nervously, her husband Locke close by and clearly trying not to look amused by this turn of events. The Bomb, The Roach, Nicasia in all her nauseating splendor, even Oriana was here today, wearing a distinctly human designer evening gown and an uncomfortable frown. 

All the Folk I had either been tormented by at one time or another, commanded or, I thought, befriended, come to watch my final demise. And in the front of the room, their resplendent ringleader himself: High King of Elfhame. My esteemed husband. 

I didn’t think it was possible but in my absence he has well and truly merged with the Blood Crown and wears it as if it weight was nothing. He appears simultaneously older and more mature while also exuding a youthful vivaciousness. His hair has grown out exponentially and tumbles over his embroidered jacket in a sleek black waterfall with the slightest of curls at the end. He wears his traditional crimson-lined cape and sword at his belt like the legend of Oberon himself, but even without these props there would be no mistaking him for royalty. His lips, painted black, are curved upwards in the faintest of smirks.

I cannot breathe with hate of him.

Standing off to the side and slightly below the dais, Nicasia glances openly between the two of us, garnished in a dove-coloured dress with elegant chunks of aquaglass hanging from her pointed ears. She wears an expression that can only be construed as contained glee. 

I don’t bother to mask my anger as Cardan descends from his throne, waving away the guards who had been restraining me. There was no point in it after all, as my hands and feet had been bound in the strongest spider silk. I couldn’t even burn it off if I wanted to, it would still be stuck to the charred remains of my bones. 

We stare at each other for a long moment, and the rest of the court is so silent the sound of my heart pounding is excruciatingly loud in my ears. Finally, Cardan drew the sword from his belt and I wondered with disquieted dispassion if he was just going to run me through with it it front of the whole court, breaking his own moral code. 

“Everyone out. Now.” He said calmly, not looking away from me. 

There was a swell in murmuring and the rustle of gowns and skirts as the crowd without a single pause turned to leave in a mass exodus, only Taryn and Nicasia faltering for a moment before only one glance sent them both through the door as well. The two guards who had captured me pulled the heavy doors of the throne room shut and then it was back to the painful silence, and the staring contest. 

After a few beats I got tired of it and finally decided to speak up.

“So, what now? Want to keep up appearances and kill me in private so no one has to see you get your hands dirty?” I jeered, using the pain of defeat and the aching in my body to fuel the seething fire in my blood. “Maybe you can just toss me back into the Undersea. I’m sure Nicasia would love that, she might even take me down there herself to feed to her mother. You could always just poison me with deathsweet so I can fall asleep and die naturally in a hundred years time. Or even better, shove some everapple down my throat and tell me to go jump off the highest tower in the palace.”

There it is. That wild, odd look, and the muscle jumping in his jaw, almost like he’s clenching his teeth. I struck a nerve and it courses through me with a thrill. 

He closes the distance between us and says nothing when he slides the blade of his sword between my hands and feet, cleanly slicing through the silk that bound them together as if it were candy floss. I fall backwards onto the hard stone in surprise, but recover quickly, clamoring to my feet to charge him and push him down instead.

He doesn’t bother to resist as I quickly overpower him, grabbing the sword from his hand, pointing its silver tip as his throat with a steady hand. I mount his chest, one hand around his neck with the other holding the hilt of his sword like a dagger. I don’t bother wondering why he released me, only thankful for the chance to end all of this once and for all.

“You will overturn your banishment and release me or I will cut your heart out here and now, consequences be damned.” I say through gritted teeth, my fingers itching to tighten their grip around his neck. 

To my utter rage, he shrugs with a neutral air like I just asked him to choose on drapery patterns for his rooms.

“You can try, if it pleases you. But that sword is one of my new little gifts from Grimsen,” He said casually. “A sword that can not end a life.” To make his point, he grabbed onto my sword arm and wretched it forward, running himself through with the blade but to my shock, the steel seemed to turn soft and pliable against him and easily folded onto itself. I felt my heart begin to race in a different type of stress as he found the hand around his neck and gently dislodging its grip, lacing his fingers through mine instead. 

I let go of him and jump to my feet, putting distance between us. I won’t let him rattle me. 

“What’s the point of a sword that cannot kill?” I voiced bewildered, forgetting my anger for a moment as I watched him reach into his pocket and withdraw a small stone vial with a cork stopper. 

“I will answer your question, but first, I will make a bargain with you.” He held up the the nondescript container with a show of display, one of his signature wolfish smiles pulling at the corners of his lips. 

“This,” He explained, “is the cost of your freedom. This is the crown you will wear if you want to reign alongside me as my High Queen. Drink this and you will have your pardon. You will be welcome home.”

The thought of it is so jarring I immediately brace myself.

“You will be my equal in every sense,” He continues. We’re circling around one another as if in a dance. “You will possess your own strength and power no one will ever be able to take from you as long as we both honor our vow to each other and the throne of Elfhame. You will finally have secured a place in this realm that only you can wrest away.” 

I narrowed my gaze in disbelief, folding my arms across my chest. If there is anything mortals learn from faerie, it’s never make a bargain with one you don’t intend to keep by losing something precious in return. 

But then, what more do I have to lose? I cannot deny that I am fatigued from the seemingly endless struggle. I have lost bone and blood for this crusade to belong, to maintain my power and while my life as the High Queen would never truly bring me peace, at least I would finally at long last with the war I’d been waging since the day Madoc dragged Vivi, Taryn and I over his threshold. I can protect the throne for Oak, who will live a longer life than I. I have my whole lifetime to secure him as my…_our_ heir, and he has decades now where once he had only years. 

“Do I even want to know what that is?” I sighed. I can’t believe I’m even asking, but as I said, I’m tired. I could take him barehanded with some effort, but then, we both know I wouldn’t have run him through with that sword even if it hadn’t been enchanted. 

I’ve lost no matter what, and I’m out of options.

“Simply put, this potion is the closest thing to becoming a faerie that magic is capable of doing. But, you know better than most that with power comes sacrifice. If you drink this and answer me only three questions, you can have that power. Don’t, and you will never be welcome in this court again. I will have you thrown into the Tower of Forgetting where you will live spend fifty years for the murder of my brother and fifty more for the murder of Valerian.” 

I wince at his harshness. In a way, I suppose he is keeping his original decree. He had said if I returned to Faerie, I would forfeit my life. And what kind of life is there in the Tower of Forgetting? 

Resolved, I reach forward to take the vial from him, but he grabs my wrist, pulling it toward him. 

“One more thing,” He continues, his gaze suddenly intense and probing. I can’t help the heat creeping up my neck and blushing my cheeks. Despite being away from and despising him for the last several months, I can’t control what he does to me with every touch. 

“Just give me the damn thing already,” I say heatedly, snatching it from his grasp. 

“Just a warning. If you drink that, you will never lie to me again.” He finishes earnestly, now mirroring my posture with arms folded across his chest. Something about the way he says that bothers me, but I unstopper the bottle and throw it back anyway, ignoring my own alarm bells. The tincture tastes vaguely of cinnamon and honeysuckle and I swallow it easily. It takes only seconds for the taste to turn quickly spicy and cloying. My eyes water and I cough and sputter, falling back down to the hard stone beneath us as my body tries to retch but the poison has worked its way into my bloodstream with uncanny speed. It burns my throat and singes my lungs and I think vaguely through the haze of pure fiery agony that at least this should be quicker than a lifetime of rotting away in the Tower of Forgetting, watching the world pass me by. 

My vision blurs and just as I think I’m going to pass out from the pain Cardan’s voice floats through the darkness and yells at me to breathe. I feel him lift me up into his lap and retrain my limbs securely, realizing drunkenly I must have been seizing. An unknown amount of time passes by before my vision and awareness start to trickle back. 

“Jude, breathe. It’s over, stop holding your breath. It’s done,” He says softly, and it’s true. His words wash over me like a cooling salve injected straight into my veins and I feel myself relaxing. I suck in a breath of air with relief, reminded of how good it felt to inhale without the taste of salt. We are quiet for a moment and even though I am well again, I let him idly stroke my hair and rub soothing circles into my back. But eventually the moment ends, and he helps me carefully to my feet, his face now wearing that careful mask over it, like he’s steeling himself. 

“Well?” I begin, raising an eyebrow. “You said I had to answer three questions, and I could have the power of the High Queen. I’m guessing if you don’t like my answers the offer probably isn’t going to still be standing, is it?” 

He grinned. “Astute as ever. Very well, your first question, and answer me honestly: Why did you kill Balekin?” 

I blew out a sigh and thought a moment. There was no sense in lying to him about this. 

“Several reasons,” I started, side-stepping him to walk towards one of the gigantic windows flagging us on either side. I gaze out into it as I reply, though my vision is turned inward in memory. 

“Dulcamara asked me to. When I was being held by the Undersea, one of the conditions of my release by Orlagh was the ability to attack without retaliation. Balekin chose the Court of Termites as his target, and you had to stand by while they fought. Lord Roiben’s consort was hurt badly in the battle. Long ago, I pledged to him that I would owe him a favor if he helped secure your way onto the throne, and Balekin’s death was the repayment to that debt, while also serving as justice for his woman, Kaye.” 

Behind me, Cardan shook his head. “And so the blood has been paid. What else? You said reasons.” 

Far beneath us in the courtyard, I could see a group of school-aged children in the distance, dancing circles around a maypole. They move gracefully, ethereally, better than any human children of their age could ever manage. 

“For my mother and father,” I replied succinctly, not wanting to elaborate but doing so anyway. “Balekin was the one who told Madoc where they hid in the human world. If it hadn’t been for him, Vivi, Taryn and I would have had a normal childhood and we wouldn’t be the monsters we are today.”

No longer truly human but not even close to being a fae either. It occurs to me suddenly that I’ve never been this open with him before.

“I had nightmares for years of the sight of my mother and father bleeding out onto the carpet in front of me and when Balkin challenged me that day, I thought I could get justice for not only me, but my family. For the Court of Termites and…”

I turned to face him. “For you.”

“Me?” He exclaimed abruptly, dropping his guard. “Why would I need your justice?” 

_“Take your punishment like the pathetic creature you are,” Balekin said, nodding to the servant who lifted his arm and proceeded to beat Cardan mercilessly, my gorge rising as I watch from my hiding spot as his eyes and face dull as if withdrawing safely into a place in his mind distant and safe. _

The memory of the day stings the corners of my eyes bitterly and I wipe my eyes hastily. “Because I saw what he did to you. How he tried to coax you into sword play under the guise of teaching you but ordered a servant to hit you repeatedly with a cane until it drew first blood. I was hiding close by, infiltrating Hollow Hall for Dain. I saw everything.” 

It was Cardan’s turn to blush in what I could only assume was chagrin that I had been witness to such a private and shameful moment. He recovers quickly though and sits himself onto the window ledge in front of me, stretching languorously onto it like a cat, stacking his legs onto one another in a show of detachment. 

“He greatly enjoyed those lessons,” He says after a moment. “If I could scar easily, my body would be quite the display piece for his rage.” He looked away then back at me. 

“Next question. Why do you want to be here,” Cardan gestured vaguely around the room, “so bad? Why do you want to be Queen over the people you seem to resent so much? And before you try to outmaneuver me, that was not the third question, merely a clarification of the second.”

I take a pause to think again. It’s a fair question and no doubt a test I have to pass. In all fairness, I’d asked myself the very same many times over the course of my exile, feeling the weight of my invisible crown. 

“I don’t…” I started, stopping again, choosing my wording carefully. “It’s true I resent you. How could I not? I will never be immortal, I will never be as beautiful. I will always live with the memories of being mistreated by you and your kind.” I hold up my hand with the missing fingertip pointedly. 

“But I guess it’s the same reason why human politicians run for office.” I shrug. “Despite everything, I still think of this place as my home and I want to make it better. I don’t want to be Queen, but I want the power to secure my place and to make life better for the humans and faeries who live here.” 

I wince at my own honesty, realizing how naive and stupid my answer is, but if Cardan thinks the same he doesn’t show it. He’s watching the children now as well, a curious look in his eyes. I wait to see if he is going to say anything but instead he’s back on his feet and walking towards me once more. I take a step back and have to lift my chin to meet his gaze when he’s finally stopped only inches away, close enough for me to easily reach out to either stroke his cheek or slap him. I’m not sure what I feel anymore when he stands this close to me. I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a tall cliff about to be yanked down into the void. 

“Last question.” His voice has gone low and I feel myself dreading what he’s about to say. The invisible hands are starting to pull me down and my head swims with the sensation that I’m about to fall. 

“Do you love me?” 

The ground below starts to shift and I try to plant my feet so as not to tumble over the precipice. I can’t imagine why he is asking me this except to torment me. After all, this is Cardan. What was all this I wondered, just one last bit of private fun to watch me pathetically try and earn a place back in Faerie?

“Why are you asking me that?” I finally choke out, skirting the reply. “How does that have any relevance on my ability as a ruler? Do you even know what love is?” 

Cardan laughs but there is no humor behind the gesture. “Did I say it did? You’re not answering me, and with good reason I think. You’re afraid you’re not only capable of loving someone, but that you do indeed.” 

I feel myself getting heated again, angry, embarrassed and a swirl of other emotions I don’t know how to comprehend. I ball my fists up at my side, resigned to keep what little dignity I have left. I refuse to let him goad me into admitting feelings for him only to have him rub it back in my face how pathetic it all is. 

“Jude.” His eyes are black. “Answer the question. Do you love me?” 

_No_, I go to retort, but when my voice replies, it says, “Yes.” 

I clap my hand over my mouth in horror. 

_“If you drink that, you will never lie to me again.”_ He had said. I cannot lie. Somehow, he managed to take away my one advantage over all of them and degrade me all in one fell swoop. I bite my lip to keep at screaming at him in fury. 

“Interesting,” He says after a pause. “So it is true then. You really are like a cautionary fairytale.” I finally lose my temper and charge him again, beating my fists into his chest, nearly knocking us both to the ground. He grabs me to stop me from hitting him but I make a turn to throw him which he manages to deflect at the last moment. He’s been no doubt training and due to his size difference we’re close to being evenly matched. We scuffle in what I’m sure must be a ridiculous display of wrestling before he finally manages to pin me against his body, my arms secured across my chest.

“Stop,” He pants, at least sounding out of breath. “You’ve got what you always wanted. That poison is made with the blood of the High King, the blood of Mab. You are half-fae. No lie will ever pass your lips and no human illness will ever befall you again.” He lets me go of me I stumble forward in pure shock at his words. 

“Why?” I finally manage. “Why even bother with all of this? You could have just tossed me into the Tower and that would have been enough. I would have died in there without bloodshed and satisfied Orlagh’s wrath. Why even take away the last thing that makes me human, makes me special?” 

He turns away from me, retreating to the door behind the throne. “Because I won’t let myself love someone who can lie to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Just really wanted to write Jude telling Cardan she loved him but I can't imagine her doing it willingly. :)


End file.
